


Bad Habit

by demonicnoble



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 12:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7685266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicnoble/pseuds/demonicnoble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[ Tom and Edd talk about something personal. ]</p>
<p>Tom stood up, and retraced Edd’s path. He lost where Edd walked, and decided to knock on Edd’s bedroom door. “Hey. Can I come in?” He asked after clearing his throat. He didn’t talk much today, since he was either drunk or didn’t have anything to say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Habit

     It was a normal afternoon. Edd, Tom, Matt and Tord were all watching Insane Zombie Pirates from Hell 3, eating popcorn, and having a good time. Matt and Tord were engrossed in the movie, Tom was barely paying attention, and Edd seemed to be distracted. Nobody paid it much mind since Edd seemed to be in his own little world half the time.

     Edd very suddenly stood up, and walked in the direction of the hallway. Nobody noticed, save for Tom who glanced at him walking away. Tom decided to wait to follow him, so he didn’t catch the attention of Matt and Tord. The two wouldn’t notice anyways, since Matt was stuffing his face with popcorn and Tord was chewing on the string of his hoodie while watching the movie.

     Tom stood up, and retraced Edd’s path. He lost where Edd walked, and decided to knock on Edd’s bedroom door. “Hey. Can I come in?” He asked after clearing his throat. He didn’t talk much today, since he was either drunk or didn’t have anything to say.

     There was no response. He opened the door a crack to take a look inside, and saw Edd sitting on his bed, hunched over into a little ball. Tom opened the door the rest of the way which caused the door to make a creaking sound, and Edd popped up, moving his legs to hang them over the side of the bed. He rubbed his face with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, and lay his hands beside him.

     “Oh! H-hey, uh, hi Tom!” Edd said. He smoothed the blanket on side bed beside him, and clasped his hands together. He seemed nervous.

     “Are you… okay?” Tom asked, making a face. He shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pockets, trying to seem casual.

     “I’m alright! Haha.” Edd smiled, not masking his true emotion very well. He moved his hand through his hair, and let it lay beside him.

     “Oookay… I’ll be in the living room if you need me.” Tom said, leaving and closing the door behind him. He could only wonder what Edd was feeling since he wasn’t very good at assessing the emotions of others. He went back to the living room, and plopped onto the couch. Matt and Tord barely noticed him sitting down.

 

     “Oh, hey Tom!! What were you doing?” Matt finally asked, after shoving more popcorn in his mouth.

     “Getting a drink.” Tom said, with a hoarse voice. He considered actually getting one considering the incident with Edd, and decided to go against it. He wasn’t exactly sure how his drunken self would handle the whole situation. The whole situation made him feel off, and he hated it. He considered going to his room and sleeping, but he didn’t want to be asleep when Edd needed him.

     “Oh, of course.” Matt replied, turning back to the TV screen. Tord didn’t pay any attention to what was going on around him.

     Tom made the decision to figure out what Edd was feeling through a sort of diagnostic checklist. He went through all of the options, asking himself questions like “Is he breathing hard? Are his eyes watering?”

     The answer to both of those was yes, although he couldn’t figure out why he was upset. Did he do something to hurt his feelings? Did Edd run out of Coca Cola? Did he stub his toe? Did someone die and Tom had failed to notice? Tom decided to go with the first one, and tried to think of his conversations with Edd over the past week. He couldn’t remember anything he said that would be rude or offensive, or anything of the like.

 

     Tom wondered if he could take the therapist approach, and walk Edd through feeling better. It never worked for Tom personally, but he thought it would maybe help Edd. He stood up and went to his own room, to figure it out.

     “If I were Edd, what would I be sad about?” He asked himself in a hushed tone. “Damn it. I should just ask him.”

     “Ask who what?” Edd asked out of nowhere. He apparently was standing in the doorway, and Tom didn’t notice until he spoke up.

     “Er. What are you doing here?” Tom questioned him, wondering when Edd showed up.

     “I was going to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me. Why?” He replied, walking further into the room.

     “Look, I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what you’re upset about.” Tom said bluntly. He figured that it was best to be honest with Edd since Edd wouldn’t be mad about it. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

     “It’s about you. I think.” Edd answered quietly, looking at his shoes.

“What? What did I do?” Tom asked, sounding offended.

     “You… You’re… Damn it.” Edd swore, looking tense. He walked up to Tom, leaving half a foot of space between them. Tom looked at him, confused. He could see him trying not to cry.

     “I’m sorry for whatever I did.” Tom said plainly, his tone of voice softer than before.

     “You didn’t do anything! I’m just stupid and I care about you too much and I’m sorry! I can’t help you no matter what I do! You’re either drunk or asleep or apathetic! Why won’t you let me help you?” He started crying, putting his face in hands. “Why can’t I… Why won’t you let me help you..”

 

     Tom looked surprised. He didn’t exactly hide the fact that he was self destructive, but he also didn’t think anyone would do anything about it.

     “It’s not your problem, it’s mine.” He said, with a hint of tiredness to his voice. “Look, I cope with life in my own ways and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

     “It’s not healthy.” Edd argued, tears running down his face. He stepped closer, and firmly hugged Tom. Tom tensed up, and hugged back slowly. The two became quiet, and Edd rested his head on Tom’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being such a baby.”

     “You’re too nice for your own good.” Tom mumbled, closing his eyes.


End file.
